Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Truly This Was the Son of God!
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Sunday of the Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council / Feast of St. Longinus, October 16, 2016 Titus 3:8-15; Luke 8:5-15 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Our main commemoration today is the Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, who theologized beautifully on what it means…
Nearly Orthodox
Worry in the Wilderness
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Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
This Good News is Who I Am
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Comments upon Elevation to the Rank of Archpriest, October 2, 2016 The Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick Your Grace, Bishop Thomas, Very Reverend Fathers, Family, Friends, beloved Christians, When I graduated from St. Tikhon’s Seminary now almost ten years ago, our commencement speaker was Metropolitan Philip, now of blessed memory. Some of you here now were present for that speech. In his address,…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Why Don't You Care About Jesus?
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Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost / First Sunday of Luke, September 25, 2016 II Corinthians 1:21-24, 2:1-4; Luke 5:1-11 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. The One who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, is God; who has also sealed us, and has given…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Christianity is Not Appealing
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Sunday after the Elevation of the Cross, September 18, 2016 Galatians 2:16-20; Mark 8:34-9:1 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh…
Nearly Orthodox
Sick and Tired
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I’m on day eight of this cold. All the research I’ve done online assures me that I’m in the home stretch here but honestly, I still feel like a snotty bag of gross that has been decomposing on my couch for the last seven days. Hot showers, steam, essential oils, vitamins, water, “severe” cold medicine…yes, I have tried it. I think this cold demonstrates beautifully my “throw it at the wall and…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Voice Crying in the Wilderness
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Today’s saintly commemoration is the conception of John the Forerunner, known to most English speakers as John the Baptist, which is narrated for us, along with his birth, in the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel. A major thematic element for today is the Voice. Zachariah, not believing the archangel, is made bereft of his voice until such time as he participates in the naming…
Nearly Orthodox
Into the Wild: The Wilderness Journal Podcast
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I have not yet read Cheryl Strayed’s book, “Wild” but I hope to get to it one of these days. I’ve heard very good things about it. I also have not yet seen the movie. I like that Reese Witherspoon, though. So many things, so little time. The reason I bring up “Wild” is because I always think that I ought to do that, go out into the wilderness and just rough…
Nearly Orthodox
All the time: Homeless and Hungry
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A homeless man with no legs broke me of giving money to people on the street. I was new to Chicago, finishing my degree at Columbia College and trying to get my band “discovered” in the meantime. He stopped me on my way to class downtown and asked for some cash to stay at the YMCA. I did not have that much money. I had tokens to get the train to school and…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Are Christians Allowed to Doubt?
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Ninth Sunday after Pentecost / Ninth Sunday of Matthew, August 21, 2016 I Corinthians 3:9-17; Matthew 14:22-34 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. What happens if I doubt my Christian faith? To some, the answer to this question seems to be just to dismiss the idea out…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Is Christianity About What You Can't Do?
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Seventh Sunday after Pentecost / Seventh Sunday of Matthew, August 7, 2016 Romans 15:1-7; Matthew 9:27-35 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. There are many things which make Christian life unattractive, both to people who have never been church-goers and to lapsed or ex-Christians. There are the…
Nearly Orthodox
If you don't worry
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“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
How Do Christians Survive Times of Political Insanity?
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Sixth Sunday after Pentecost / Sixth Sunday of Matthew, July 31, 2015 Romans 12:6-14; Matthew 9:1-8 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Bless those who persecute you; bless, and do not curse. (Romans 12:14) Over the past two weeks, we have witnessed in our popular media the…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Does Your Life Have a Point?
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Fifth Sunday after Pentecost and the Fifth Sunday of Matthew, July 24, 2016 Romans 10:1-10; Matthew 8:28-9:1 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. For Christ is the fulfillment of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes. That is Romans 10:4, which we just heard read in…
Nearly Orthodox
Listening Season: Nearly Political
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Listening, in a loud election cycle When I formatted the subheading above, it was huge. Really huge. I dropped it down, one level, then another. I looked at it, took away the “bold” setting, then returned it again because I wanted to be sure it still stood out as a subheading but didn’t look as though I was yelling. It’s hard to tell on the internet, sometimes. Especially now, in the heat…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Two Schools: What the Council of Crete Means for the Future of Orthodox Theology
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Various media reports and editorials have described the controversies before, during, and after the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, recently held during Pentecost on the island of Crete. Some have concluded that the Council’s difficulties were the result of geopolitics, and can therefore be explained away as little more than an ecclesial version of the larger political and cultural…
Nearly Orthodox
Mercy beyond the Pale
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“Ever let mercy outweigh all else in you. Let our compassion be a mirror where we may see in ourselves that likeness and that true image which belong to the Divine nature and Divine essence. A heart hard and unmerciful will never be pure.” St. Isaac of Syria For a long time now I’ve looked over the landscape of the world, this country, this city from the safety of my small, cramped…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
#LivesMatter. But Why?
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It’s been something of a rough week for news in America. Two very controversial police killings of black men were followed by a protest against police brutality in Dallas that turned deadly when snipers killed several police officers and wounded others. And not too many weeks ago was the deadly mass shooting in Orlando. Outrage. Politics. Hypocrisy. Outcry. Violence. Hatred. Injustice. Race war. These…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
How I See Things After the Orthodox Council in Crete
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Please note: The following represents my personal opinions and is not in the name of anyone but myself. The big Crete Meet of 2016 has come and gone, and (despite what some seemed to be suggesting) the world has in fact not ended, the Orthodox have in fact not been sold out to union with a non-Orthodox body, and it all really had nothing…
Nearly Orthodox
The Wilderness Journal: Quiet
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When I was a kid, late at night I’d lie awake in my bed and stare out the window of my room, counting the stars, listening to the wind, thinking. I had words and songs and fears running through my head. I remember, lying there, saying to myself, “stop thinking! You have to sleep!” as if there was another person upstairs in my brain operating some controls, and they just needed me…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Jesus vs. My Family?
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Sunday of All Saints, June 26, 2016 Hebrews 11:33-12:2; Matthew 10:32-33, 37-8; 19:27-30 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Great Orthodox Council: The "Diaspora" as Key to Unity
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At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him… Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. (Acts 8:1-2, 4) I have read that the document on the…
Nearly Orthodox
Under Construction: St Ephrem of Syria
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I’m grateful today to point you to Sojourner’s once again to read my short essay on St. Ephrem, construction traffic and my muddled brain. Rest assured, I am taking my daily vitamin supplements that promise right there on the package that they aid in failing memory* All in all, it’s been a strange couple of weeks around here, what with the random illnesses that come with a change in the odd Chicago…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Where is the Power of Pentecost?
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Sunday of Pentecost, June 19, 2016 Acts 2:1-11; John 7:32-57, 8:12 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. We come now to the great feast of Pentecost, the feast that completes all that we have been laboring for and struggling with for the past few months, beginning with…
Nearly Orthodox
Flesh and Blood: Making Contact
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It’s been a crazy month or two, what with the last, lingering vestiges of the school year for my kids, finishing the manuscript for Garden in the East, adopting a puppy (the most adorable puppy ever) and finally making contact, in real life, with cyber pals at the Ancient Faith Retreat this past weekend. It’s always nice to see people I know only online in real life, to put flesh to a Facebook…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Blind Man and Lawrence of Arabia
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Sunday of the Blind Man, June 5, 2016 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick Acts 16:16-34; John 9:1-38 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Christ is risen! Men have looked upon the desert as barren land, the free holding of whoever chose; but in fact each hill and valley in it had a…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
On Loss and Change
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Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, May 29, 2016 Acts 11:19-30; John 4:5-42 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Christ is risen! Five hundred sixty-three years ago today, the great city of Constantinople fell, marking the end of an empire that had endured from a generation before the…
